Mega Man ZX: Savage Hero
by Nexus Schwarz
Summary: In between ZX and ZX Advent, another story was working within the background, dragging Gen and her friends into a struggle between instinct and justice as she deals with a new kind of threat. Between the large, destructive Erroroids and the cunning, manipulative Beast Men, she tries to resolve or terminate old grudges of the past to protect the present. (Starting Year: 2010)
1. First Breeze: BEAST System

"Hey, Gen?" A voice belonging to a bespectacled woman called out. She had a notepad on-hand as if she was recording something.

A tall woman in a green uniform who was getting something from a shelf turned around, responding to her name as she climbed down from the stool she was standing on and walked into the woman's office.

"Yes, Boss?" She quietly asked, sheepishly waiting for her request.

"Don't have that look on your face all the time. People might think you're a downer." Her boss lightly joked, smirking. "I've got another request for you if you've got some spare time."

Relaxing, Gen replied, "Of course I have time to do a job for you, Boss... So what is it today?"

"A client gave me a call and she wanted to have someone to get something of hers that was caught in a tree." Her boss replied, reading over her notes.

Gen sat down with an exasperated sigh as she quickly became discouraged at the description. "That means they wanted someone tall to get it, right...?"

Patting her shoulder, her boss tried to encourage her. "It's not just that you're tall, Gen. You can really move once you get down to it, I'm sure it'll be okay."

"If you say so, Boss..." She said, getting back up as she grabbed her shoulder bag.

Her boss could only smile as Gen walked off into a different room.

"Let's see... I'll get some jobs done myself." She said, looking at her notes again as she turned on her holoscreen.

Down in the garage, Gen looks around trying to find something, growing concerned. _Where's my motorcycle...?_

Someone was making noise as they were fixing a motorcycle and noticed that she had walked in. "Gen, is that you?"

"How could you tell that was me, Bugle?" Gen asked, confused.

"Your footsteps, obviously." He noted, pointing at her feet. "You've got different shoes than Aero so it's pretty noticeable when you're around."

Chuckling nervously, Gen scratched her head. "Oh yeah... But they're my work shoes, I go everywhere with them on."

"Of course, of course. Anyway, your bike here's busted so I'm fixing it on my downtime."

"R-Really? Are you sure you don't have more important work?" Gen asked, flattered but not wanting to be treated special.

Bugle could only laugh at her response.

"You're my friend, and giving favors is what friends do. Just expect a fee out of your bill this time around." He replied, waving his index finger in a teasing manner.

Gen smiled slightly, causing Bugle to blush but he turned away before she saw.

"Thanks Bugle... I'll give you a big cut this time, so good luck!" She yelled, running off.

 _She's so cute sometimes...!_ He excitedly thought to himself.

"One has to wonder why she's so self-doubting, don't you agree Bugle?" Aero asked as he began to calm down.

Rubbing his nose briefly with a smirk, he then said, "It's probably just a height complex is all. She probably wants to be normal, but I think she's fine like that."

 _It might be more than that, you know..._ Aero thought, giggling deviously with her index finger close to her mouth as she winked.

"H-Hey, what were you thinking just now...?" Bugle asked, nervous.

She quickly turned around to hide her expression, now smirking.

"It's nothing~" She teased as she walked back into her office.

Meanwhile, Gen was walking to her supposed destination, when she heard a child crying in the park, going there instead.

"There, there, Eric..." The mother said as she attempted to calm her son.

"I-Is there a problem, ma'am?" Gen asked, concerned as well.

"Well, as you can see my son lost his kite in that tree there, and I can't get it with this dress on..." She replied, pointing out the facts as she mentioned them.

"It's a lovely dress, too." Gen quietly complimented, then saying, "I can get it for you, if you'd like."

"Really, it seems like such a bother, though..." She noted, discouraged.

"I wouldn't mind helping you, and besides, it's seems like that's all I can do." Gen joked nervously, pointing out her height.

She then looked at the tree to see where it was best to get the kite, and after a while, she managed to grab it while on her tip-toes.

"There you go." Gen said, offering the kite back to the young owner with a small smile.

"Wow... Thanks, miss! You're so tall so it must've been easy for you to get!" He yelled cheerfully, smiling.

Gen twitched slightly as her complex was realized, smiling nervously. "Y-You're welcome..."

"Thank you so much for doing that for us, we have to give you something in return." The mother said, thinking.

"You don't have to reward me, ma'am!" Gen yelled nervously, calming down in embarrassment afterwards. "J...Just a thank you is good enough for me."

"But I insist, miss... We never did get your name, did we?" She asked, uneasy.

Gen pulled out a business card from her bag for the woman to look at. "I work at Aero Express, so it's my job as a Transporter to make sure that everyone I see is happy somehow."

"Aero Express...? So you're the Transporter we requested, what a coincidence!" She said, overjoyed now.

Gen then nodded, smiling somewhat. "Thank you for your business."

"Come on now, Eric, let's go home." The mother quietly noted, patting her son's shoulder.

"Thanks again, miss! You should come over to play sometime!" Eric yelled, waving happily.

She waved back, satisfied that the mission was finished. _This is just another time that reminds me how important being a Transporter is..._

 _ **[It's cold...]**_ A mysterious voice echoed in Gen's head, causing her to look around suspiciously as she held her ear module.

 _That's strange... Where is this voice coming from...?_

As Gen ran towards the voice's location, it seemed to get stronger. _ **[I'm trapped... I want to be free again...]**_

"I'll free you, whoever you are! Please wait for me!" Gen yelled in despair, getting desperate as there was no more land to search when she stopped at the freezing lake.

 _Does it mean that they're in the water...?_ She thought to herself, kneeling down to touch the water but wincing as she pulled her hand out as it was indeed very cold.

Quickly shaking her head afterwards, she pumped herself up as she scrambled to take off her bag. "No matter! Even if Mavericks will get in my way, I'll swim out of there!"

She then jumped into the lake regardless of the consequences and pulled down her visor with it activating to allow her to see in the dark instantly.

Holding her breath, she carefully began to search with her night vision. _I don't see anything so far..._

 _ **[Have you responded to my voice...?]**_ The mysterious being asked, as something began to glow dimly near Gen's location.

Almost gasping, Gen turned to the light and swam towards a lake edge, using the water to remove the mud off the glowing object.

It turned out to be a small face-like fragment that looked like an eagle with folded wings along its edges. The eyes turned out to be the source of the light, occasionally fading in and out.

 _What could this thing be?_ Gen thought, soon moving closer to the strange object.

But as soon as even one finger touched it, electricity began to surround her as if something was trying to take over her body, with her eye color switching between bright red and her normal deep blue.

She could only wince in pain, but she tried as hard as she could to resist the possession and pulled the object out of the mud with a strong grip.

The electricity instantly dispersed and Gen finally fell unconscious from the attack, still holding onto the mysterious fragment as she slowly began to float to the surface.

 _ **[You seem to be too strong for me...]**_

... _ey! H...!_ "Gen, wake up!" A voice shouted as he was lightly shaking Gen.

Slowly waking with a lethargic groan, Gen lifted her visor to properly see that it was Bugle. "Were you the one that rescued me, Bugle...?"

"You kidding? There's no way in heck I'd swim into that lake." He said, shivering as he imagined the scenario. "You just washed up on the shore unconscious."

"I see..." Gen quietly replied as she was fixing her hair somewhat.

"Say, what's that in your hand?" Bugle asked, pointing out that she still had the object that she recovered.

Gen jumped slightly as she noticed, getting panicked as she was switching glances between it and avoiding his curious eyes. "O-Oh, this? It's..."

She stumbled over her words to explain what it was but Bugle grinned. "You risked your life for some treasure, is that it?"

Turning back to him, Gen had a nervous expression. "T...Treasure, sure..."

"Don't worry. Finders' keepers, after all. So what is it?" He asked, getting close to Gen as he tried to look at it with her squirming back in response.

"P-Please don't worry about it, Bugle! I-I'll show you later!" She yelled, becoming extremely flustered at how close he was.

Suddenly the earth shook, lifting the snow nearby, and scaring them out of their situation.

"W-What was that...?" Bugle could barely ask, stammering.

"I-I-I don't know..." Gen responded nervously, gripping tightly on the object again.

A loud snort blew through the frozen air, as a large shadow cast over the two for a brief second, with the earth shaking at the arrival of a giant buffalo-like Mechaniloid.

It breathed slowly as if it was awakening. Gen and Bugle could only anxiously wait for it to move again to think about what to do next as Gen tightly gripped onto the fragment.

 _ **[Must... Destroy...]**_ A deep yet distant voice groaned.

"Destroy...?" Gen wondered, before one of the Mechaniloid's fists slammed down near her as she rolled away to react in turn.

"Gen!" Bugle yelled, worried but backed off out of fear of getting hurt.

"It's after me Bugle, so run for cover!" She shouted back as the machine kept trying to hit her with its fists.

"But…!" He said, biting his lip nervously afterwards.

Then he noticed how hard Gen was fighting despite the odds, surprised. _She's probably distracting that thing so that I can run away, and I'm just standing here like a moron..._

Clenching his fists, Bugle ran to Gen's motorcycle and zoomed off, causing Gen to relax as she was still in her predicament.

"I'm glad that he'll be okay... But what about me?!" Gen panicked to herself, trying to back away as the Mechaniloid was recovering from its attacks.

From her fear and exhaustion, she relaxed her hand and dropped the fragment onto the snow. Suddenly the eyes flashed brightly and it began to float in front of Gen, looking to the monster.

 _ **[Destroy or be destroyed, is that it...?]**_ It muttered, and then it turned to Gen.

"So you were the voice I heard..." She said out of awe, speechless at what she was witnessing.

 _ **[That is correct. I can't explain properly now, but I know that you have the resolve needed to fight this enemy. Or will you ruin my expectations and run away?]**_ It asked in a serious tone, staring into Gen's eyes.

After a while of staring back, Gen swallowed nervously. "...Then why did you try to kill me before?"

 _ **[I must admit that was purely instinct, my apologies...]**_

"If everything could be solved by just saying sorry, would we not be in this situation now?!" Gen countered, suddenly yelling.

Realizing this, she was taken aback, calming down as she was looking away. _Even if that thing tried to kill me before, that was uncalled for..._

 _ **[Destroy!]**_ The Mechaniloid shouted once more, causing Gen to turn back and notice that it was about to snag the floating object from the air.

"I won't run away from saving anyone!" Gen screamed, quickly jumping forward to get it before the monster did.

 _ **[Then I will help you with that.]**_ The fragment calmly said as soon as she grabbed it, engulfing them in a flash of light as the Mechaniloid stepped back several steps as it was blinded.

Within the light, Gen was propelled upward through a column of wind as her hand was raised toward the sky with the fragment.

 _ **[Biolink established! B.E.A.S.T. System, Online!]**_ It said, unfolding its wings as the eyes briefly flashed.

Gen relaxed herself as armor was appearing on her body: her long-sleeved shirt shortened as streamline gauntlets formed over her forearms, her ear modules gained antenna as Beam energy projected from several ports, a folded jetpack materialized onto her back, her shoes lengthened into knee-high boots with grated knee guards, two holsters with small Busters formed onto her thighs, her visor activated and turned into a clear eye shield, and lastly a helmet attached to her head, bearing two small gems in the front above her eyes, with the light and wind dissipating when the transformation was finished to reveal that the armor was a bright blue now instead of the green on her shirt.

"Whoa... My body's changed...!" Gen whispered excitedly, looking at herself.

 _ **[Don't get distracted, you're going to fall at this rate!]**_ Somehow the fragment's voice was inside Gen's head now, surprising her as she then noticed their current altitude and its speeding decrease.

"F-Fall?!" She yelled, which suddenly activated her jetpack as it opened, revealing a design that has several jet ports to give a wing-like appearance. "Wow..."

 _ **[My name is Biomaverick Model E. You are now Beast Man Model E, Chosen One.]**_ He noted, finally introducing himself.

"Model E... It's nice to meet you, too...!" Gen exclaimed, blasting down to land in the snow to properly face her opponent.

 _ **[This thing is the result of a failed transformation with the B.E.A.S.T. System; it's no ordinary Maverick, so don't let your guard down...]**_ He noted as Gen was looking for a weapon to fight with, noticing the holsters on her legs.

"You're so bossy for someone who wants to fight with me..." Gen weakly noted, grabbing at the stocks of the Busters as the holsters released to reveal their full form. "Also..." _**[Yes?]**_

"It seems rude to call it just a Maverick and we can't define our enemy if we don't properly name it, right?"

 _ **[That's true... How about you name it?]**_ Model E commented with a teasing tone but that panicked Gen instead.

"M-Me?" Gen asked, uneasily looking away from the Mechaniloid as she was about to shoot.

 _ **[Destroy!]**_ The Mechaniloid shouted once more as it tried to slam its fist into Gen again but she jumped with increased height and distance than before.

"I-Is this another ability of mine?" She asked aloud, curious but quickly snapped out of it and aimed her Busters as she landed.

"Cyclone Busters!" She yelled, shooting several rounds of compressed air into the Mechaniloid to limited effect, barely scratching its armor.

"T-That didn't do much to...the Erroroid, did it?" She weakly noted, naming it after some brief thought.

 _ **[Erroroid? That's an interesting name.]**_ He commented, chuckling.

"If it's a failed Beast Man, then it's an "error", so it's simple in that sense..."

"And if that didn't work..." She said, quietly concentrating as energy was flowing into one of her Busters.

"Then let's put some more energy into it, Cyclone Bullet!" She then yelled, blasting a small tornado out of one Buster and managed to damage the Erroroid.

Something was revealed underneath as its armor crumbled around the spot, irritating the large machine as it soon charged for her.

Freezing for a moment, Gen jumped into the air once more and hovered as she tried to recover her breath as she put away one of her Cyclone Busters. "Something's not right, Model E..."

 _ **[What is it?]**_ "If you're right, then where is the Chosen One for this Erroroid?"

 _ **[When you attacked and the armor was damaged, I sensed something changed. There's a Reploid in there.]**_

"What?! How can I fight if there's someone there?!" Gen yelled, fearful.

 _ **[Calm down!]**_ Model E shouted, snapping Gen out of her anxiety.

 _ **[You said before we transformed that you won't run away if you can save someone. Believe in your own words and fight, Beast Man Model E!]**_ He stated, encouraging his partner as she closed her eyes to relax while landing as she put a Cyclone Buster back into its holster.

"Sorry Model E, I won't take back what I said." Gen said as some of her ear modules' "feathers" loosened and fell into her hand.

"Feather Illusion!" She then yelled, throwing the knife-like energy at the Erroroid's head, shattering its horns with extreme irritation for a "reply" as it charged again.

"That thing will never learn..." Gen noted with a grimace, jumping into the air and pulling out her Cyclone Busters while charging them.

"Raging Cyclone Bullet!" She shouted as the two tornadoes pierced into the Erroroid's body, completely shattering its armor to free its unwilling occupant as Gen quickly caught the Reploid and soon set him down into the snow.

 _ **[He's unconscious but it seems that he was not damaged in the fight.]**_

"I did it..." She noted in quiet awe as she kneeled down to see his resting face.

However he began to wince in pain as one of his hands was glowing.

It revealed that the Biomaverick was beginning to reform its armor once more on the man, but Gen forcibly pulled it out of his hand to prevent such and threw it on the ground.

Without another word, she quickly blasted it to pieces with another Cyclone Bullet.

Transforming back to normal, Gen fell to one knee from the amount of immense energy coursing through her.

 _ **[Are you all right, Chosen One?]**_ Model E asked, worried about her as he reformed nearby.

"My…my name is Gen, Model E. Call me that..." She complained in exhaustion as she sat down in the snow regardless of the cold.

 _ **[Gen? Is it short for "general"...?]**_ He asked curiously, now floating next to her at her eye level.

"G-General? I don't have such a title..." Gen replied as she was discouraged, resting her head in one hand.

 _ **[Now you do, because you are my leader.]**_ Model E confidently said, surprising Gen.

However, she sighed as she shook her head with a slight smirk. "Whatever you say, Model E..."


	2. Second Wind: Call of the BEAST

After sitting in the snow to cool down for a while, Gen was beginning to walk back to Aero Express with Model E floating next to her.

"All right Model E, we're going back to work. That means that you have to hide in my bag and not come out unless I either tell you to or when you hear that I'm in danger, okay?" Gen asked, briefly stopping to open said bag and showed him his new hiding place.

 ** _[If that is your wish, General. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble.]_** He agreed, now floating into the bag as she softly closed it afterwards.

"Getting into trouble isn't exactly the problem I was worried about..." She muttered, continuing her long walk.

 _[Gen! Is everything okay now?!]_ Bugle's voice shouted, causing her to wince back in pain as she stopped walking.

"Y...Yes, Bugle. Everything is fine now." Gen said, calming down.

 _[If you like, I could give you a ride back to work. Are you close to the construction site yet?]_

"Yes, I just entered it. I'll make my way to a Transerver, don't worry about me..." Gen nervously noted as she opened the door.

 _[Oh, okay...]_ Bugle said, sighing into his communicator. _Your bike will be waiting for you here!_ With that, he finished the conversation.

 ** _[He seems like an interesting fellow. Your co-worker, correct?]_**

"That's right. He's also a good friend of mine." She said, smiling somewhat.

Soon they arrived back in the city and Gen began using the Transerver, reporting the mission she just took and receiving her reward of 100 EC.

 _I think I'll give this all to Bugle since he needs it more than I do..._ She thought as she was getting close to the office.

She then bumped into someone, stepping back and bowing slightly. "I-I'm sorry!"

However the taller man didn't respond, causing Gen to open her eyes to look up at him weakly. "U-Um..."

"It doesn't matter." He then walked away, almost brushing her shoulder in his haste.

Looking back, Gen was confused about the situation. "..."

"That doesn't seem to be very polite, now does it?" Someone behind Gen said, catching her attention as she turned around.

The voice's owner revealed herself to be Aero, surprising Gen as she suddenly became flustered. "B-Boss! What are you doing here?!"

"I happened to deliver a package myself because a certain someone had to go missing..." She joked, giggling afterwards as she caused Gen to blush nervously.

"I-I see..." She replied.

"My! What a nice surprise to see you, Aero~!" A snooty voice yelled, making Gen turn around as she happened to miss her boss grimace in disdain.

 _Great..._ "H-Hello, Charon... It  has been a while..." She slowly said, hiding her disgust from them at his presence however he shook his head with a chuckle.

"Unsociable as usual, I see." He commented, flicking some of his hair up for supposed flair.

He then noticed Gen looking down at him, looking back. "And who is your associate here?"

"She's my employee, Gen." Aero noted, reluctantly introducing her.

"Oh that's right... You have a business of your own now, if I recall correctly. It shocked me that you decided to go into a poor man's occupation despite your prestigious resume." He gloated, setting off another of Aero's nerves which got Gen to notice her irritation as she swallowed nervously. _I've never seen the boss so mad before..._

"Honestly, anyone can be a Transporter you know." He continued to ramble, now getting Gen's attention.

"Now hold on a second, sir." She began, causing Charon to look at her.

"Being a Transporter is not an easy job and having Miss Aero as my boss has made it easier so she's not overqualified by any means..." She quietly retorted, upsetting him but he swiftly covered it up.

"I didn't mean to offend either of you with that. I was just saying that she is losing her potential, that's all." Charon replied, backing off the subject.

Aero quickly turned away, walking off. "Gen, we're going back."

Looking back to see that she was almost out of sight, Gen ran after her. "W-Wait up, Boss!"

As soon as they were gone, Charon clicked his tongue in frustration. _Happiness is never obtained as easily as you've thought, Aero..._

He then pulled a purple and green item into his hand, gripping it tightly as it began to glow brightly. Gen stopped for some reason meanwhile, as if she sensed something.

 _Was that...?_ She thought, looking down at her bag where Model E was.

"Is everything all right, Gen?" Aero asked as she was slightly ahead.

Snapping out of it, Gen turned back to Aero's concerned expression. "I-It's nothing."

Catching up to her, they continued walking back to the office.

"Gen! Thank goodness you're okay!" Bugle shouted, hugging her before she knew it with their bodies suddenly close, easily flustering her again as her complexion brightened.

"Bugle, w-w-what are you doing?!" Gen attempted to shout as Aero sighed disappointingly for some reason, shaking her head.

Realizing where he was, he immediately jumped back and fell into a stack of papers, scattering them about as they calmed down as she had her hand to her heart.

"S...Sorry, Gen. I was just so worried after what happened to you after I ran like a coward..." He said in between breaths, looking to Gen with distressed eyes as he sat up.

 ** _[You had no choice_** ** _but_** ** _to run.]_** Model E said as he somehow escaped Gen's bag, causing her to freeze in panic.

"Is that the treasure you found earlier? How is it floating like that...?" Bugle asked in confusion.

"What was that static just now...?" Aero noted, tapping her ear module in concern.

"You can't hear him?" Gen also questioned as she was puzzled, with the other two turning in response.

"Can you tell us his name since we can't seem to hear him?" Aero requested as she was unsure of the situation now.

"He's Biomaverick Model E, and he saved my life." Gen said, introducing him.

"Biomaverick? Is that like those Live Metals that are in the rumors?" Bugle wondered.

"I'm not too sure since even in my travels I haven't heard much of them..." Gen commented, moving into a thinking position. "But in either case, he helped me and I wanted to introduce him because no matter what, I know I can trust you two."

"Does that mean it's time for you to have an adventure?" Bugle asked with a snarky tone, chuckling.

"Are there others like him?" Aero asked, curious.

"Yes... And they're very dangerous. Before I managed to calm Model E down, he tried to possess me. The Erroroid I fought-the strange Mechaniloid, Bugle-was the result of that as it controlled a Reploid before I freed him." The tall girl explained, exhaling afterwards.

"But before we continue, I guess I should show you what I mean rather than just babbling on about it…" She finished, standing up.

Later Gen and Bugle were riding on their motorcycles with Aero hanging onto Gen, as she was blushing nervously.

 _[So why are we going to the forest?]_ Bugle asked as the flashback began in Gen's head.

 _[I don't want to risk being treated like a Maverick and attacked by the Legion members nearby or scaring people. That's the last thing I want to do...]_ She replied, nervous.

Pulling out Model E from her bag, Gen then takes it off and gives it to Bugle. Walking a good distance from the others as they arrived in the clearing, Gen exhaled to relax herself.

 _Okay... I have to focus..._ She thought, simply raising the Biomaverick into the sky dramatically.

Several minutes passed slowly through the awkward silence as Gen began to sweat bullets.

Just as worried, Bugle whispered to Aero. "Was something supposed to happen?"

Calming down, Gen then looked to Model E for an answer.

 ** _[I can't read your thoughts, General. You have to_** _tell_ _me what you want to do.]_ He said in an uppity manner, as if he was poking fun at her.

"I-I see..." She could barely reply.

Closing her eyes to concentrate again, she then felt words coming to her head as she held the Biomaverick by her heart.

Opening her eyes, she then turned her right hand away from her body. "Model E!" Model E responded as his eyes flashed.

"Take flight through the Call of the B.E.A.S.T.!" She shouted as she pushed her arm into the air.

 ** _[Biolink established! B.E.A.S.T. System, Online!]_** He yelled as his wings unfolded, soon summoning a flash of light, and finally surrounding Gen in a column of wind.

Finishing the transformation, Gen dispersed the wind as she floated down.

"Whoa!" Bugle yelled, excited as he ran up to Gen with Aero following.

"Fascinating lost technology you have there..." Aero said, surprised.

Hearing someone whistle in amongst the forest, their conversation was interrupted as their bodies stiffened, looking around suspiciously.

It was then that a man in armor similar to Gen's deactivated his cloaking device behind everyone, causing Bugle and Aero to back up a safe distance in advance.

His armor was in a green color scheme with rectangular gauntlets that extended past his elbow slightly and has four purple panels along his wrists. His palms had red orbs as he was moving his hand while the other was in a thinking position and his shoulders had spikes lined with gold bands, overall looking similar to a chameleon.

"Good afternoon, my fellow Beast Man. I am Model C, the Illusion Beast Man." He said as he put one hand close to his chest while the other was open towards Gen.

Uneasy, Gen relaxed her arms so that she can grab her weapons in case.

"...Model E, the Flying Beast Man." She stated cautiously.

"Don't be so anxious, I have no need to fight you." He commented, raising his hands nervously as he fully revealed their red orbs unintentionally.

"Is that so? Then why are you here...?" Gen asked with her guard still up.

"I merely want to meet every Beast Man outside of combat." He said with a smirk for some reason.

 _So that I can find out everything there is to know about them to properly destroy them..._ He thought with malicious intent behind his smirk.

"Do what you want, I guess..." Gen noted, turning away from him.

"What are you doing here with these outsiders? Are you showing off your powers...?" He asked with a snide tone, his smirk growing into a somewhat grin.

"I am not one to use my powers for personal profit like you seem to be, and I suggest that you leave before I try to blast a hole into you..." She noted out of sudden disgust, now gripping tightly on her Busters' handles as her hands began to shake.

Quietly noticing something unusual, Model C raised one eyebrow as he began to contemplate.

"I'm sure that your friends would suggest otherwise, my dear." He said, casting the gunner's attention back to them as she became shocked by the turn of events.

They were snatched up by thorny vines that were revealed to belong to a rose-like Erroroid before she knew it, constricted into unconsciousness. "Boss, Bugle!"

 _Such a shame that they could not be enlightened as we are...right, Model E?_ With that, the conniving man casted his invisible spell once more as he disappeared into the forest.

Not caring about the antagonistic man disappearing, Gen began to concentrate before pulling out her Cyclone Busters. "Where is the Biomaverick...?"

 ** _[It seems to be obscured by all of those vines; I can't get a lock on its signal...]_** Model E commented anxiously.

"It's my fault that it was lured here and captured them..." She muttered, blaming herself.

She then activated her boosters in order to circle strafe around the Erroroid and let off a long series of air bullets, each blowing off pieces of the many vines within its body.

 ** _[The Biomaverick's presence is growing stronger, but still nothing!]_** "Feather Illusion!" Gen yelled, mentally commanding the blades as she put away her Cyclone Busters to slice the vines around Aero and Bugle individually, catching and jetting to a safe place to set them each time.

Seemingly frustrated at losing its prey, the Biomaverick threw vine after vine to catch Gen next but she dodged each time with a mid-air jump as she pulled her weapons back out.

Using the unpredictability of each jump, she was able change the angle of her bullets and break off even more vines. "Lunar Volley!"

Gen then landed at a distance to relax her hands. "I should probably train my hands for this sort of thing..."

 ** _[It's a good thing to note, but are you sure you have the time to be thinking about this now?]_** Model E quietly countered.

"Right, I've got to finish this thing off before it tries to grab them again." Gen said, looking at a nearby lake as she was trying to calm down.

She then noticed that her helmet's eyes as well as her Beam feathers have been shining in a bright green color rather than their usual white. "That's different..."

 ** _[I feel a stronger power is within us, as if we have unified in our thoughts.]_**

Looking at her Cyclone Busters, the handles were glowing in that same hue. "Then let's see what this power can do!"

Gen hastily ran back into shooting distance, almost falling from her eagerness to strike.

Then after she intuitively crossed her wrists so that the handles could link together, she began to charge an immense amount of energy into the new, combined Buster. "Storm Explosion!"

The concentrated gale instantly hit the Erroroid and destroyed both armor and fragment, leaving the only the victim behind unharmed.

Gen's transformation was dispelled afterwards from the sudden stress of the event, falling to her knees as she was out of breath. "That…that was incredible…"

"Boss, Bugle!" She yelled as she realized the situation again, but instead completely collapsed as she gritted her teeth in pain.

 ** _[Calm down, General. They're only unconscious.]_** Model E said, disheartened.

"I've got no choice but to...my body can't move." She replied in a groaning tone, breathing slowly.

She later fell asleep like that out of exhaustion and as night passed, she woke up in the middle of the night to discover that she was in her own bed.

"I'm home...?" She mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Gen then quietly sneaked a peek into Aero's room to see that she was sleeping.

"Boss brought me back home..." She whispered to herself, closing the door softly.

 _I really appreciate that, even though you couldn't see me saving you._ She joked to herself as she walked back to her room, and then went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Charon clicked his tongue in disgust again as he was covered in shadows. "I'll destroy that arrogance of yours once and for all, Aero..." He said as he was holding his Biomaverick tightly, now revealed to be not unlike a peacock as its eyes were glowing white again.


	3. Third Breath

Third Breath: Attempting to Control the Storms of Fate

It seemed that after the second Erroroid that Gen had destroyed and meeting her first Beast Man, everything returned to a somewhat normal pattern within two weeks...

Pulling up a news article on her holoscreen, Aero sighed in dismay. "There's been something destroying city buildings at night for this past week... I hope they don't attack here."

"What are you talking about, Boss?" Gen asked. She then pulled down her visor to read the news article as well. "Oh... It looks like the security cameras can't get a picture of whatever this is to stop them."

"Are you sure that all of these are just random attacks? That kinda reminds me of those supposed random Maverick attacks that had the Serpent Company behind all of them..." Bugle noted, thinking.

"You're not telling me that someone else is able to specifically control attacks like that, right?" Aero doubted, raising an eyebrow.

Gen then lifted her visor. "It would be possible if a Biomaverick was involved and then a Beast Man was ordering them around."

Aero yawned loudly as she covered her mouth while doing so. "Either way, there's no point in us worrying about it. Legion will get it taken care of somehow..."

"You all right, Boss? You seem really tired..." Bugle commented, concerned.

"Losing sleep over something, must be working too hard lately..." She joked weakly, smirking somewhat.

"Maybe you should take the day off and get some rest, Boss." Gen added, disheartened.

Lightly shaking her head, Aero then said, "I can't let lack of sleep stop me from working. I'm sure I'll be fine later."

Sure enough, she proved herself right in that after a few cups of coffee she was perky as usual, but her employees were still concerned about her behavior as they watched or thought of her from afar in the midst of working.

"Excuse me~!" A familiar voice shouted, grabbing especially Aero's attention as he walked up to her desk.

"Hello again, Charon... To what do I owe the pleasure?" Aero sarcastically noted with a dismissive expression, resting her head in one hand as she was tapping her fingers with the other.

"You shouldn't talk to that to a customer, now... I have a request I'd like to have you fulfill, if you don't mind." He asked with an unusually dark tone as his fingers were playing with something he had in-hand while Aero oddly became complacent, now staring directly into Charon's eyes.

"Yes. Shall we fill out the paperwork...?" She coldly asked as Gen walked back into the office, subtly noticing that Charon was holding a Biomaverick, looking away. _To think that he has one too...but if he's not a threat to me for now then I shouldn't fight him just yet._

"Hm? What's wrong, um...?" Charon asked, before interrupting himself to try to remember her name as she walked to her desk to sit down.

"You don't really need to remember my name, sir. After all, I'm just a worthless grunt, aren't I?" Gen commented with a serious tone, pulling up some digital notes from her visor to look over.

Charon groaned at this annoying turn of events, dropping his act. "I did this so that she wouldn't interfere with our conversation...Model E."

Surprised, she then lifted her visor to see that Charon was showing his personal Biomaverick to her. "I am the Chosen One of Model P here. Model C is a good friend of mine, and he divulged your information to me..."

"So are you going to fight me?" Gen asked but Charon chuckled in return.

"I'm not going to transform to do such a barbaric thing. I'm sure you've heard the rumors of an unknown menace destroying buildings, am I right?" He implored, putting his Biomaverick into his pocket while Gen was watching his movements carefully.

"Tonight, the next target will be Aero Express here, unless you interrupt..." He said, turning to walk out with a teasing wave as he left.

As soon as Charon left, Aero snapped out of the mysterious trance she was put in, now looking around. "Wasn't Charon just here, where did he go...?"

"Oh, he changed his mind about the request and left." Gen quietly noted, shifting her eyes away nervously.

Frowning at Gen's poor attempt to lie, Aero dropped the subject with a sigh and went back to work as Gen sat at her desk, contemplating Charon's plans.

 _So if he's not going to fight me, then he really is going to use an Erroroid against me? How much power does he have to control another Biomaverick...?_

"How was the information I gave you, Model P?" Model C asked as he deactivated his invisibility cloak, catching Charon's attention.

"It's wonderful, really. To think that an air-headed woman like her was able to resist the Biomaverick's immense power and become a Beast Man. ...However it's bizarre that she uses hers to destroy other Biomavericks rather than using it to her advantage." He said disapprovingly, exhaling as he rested his head on his arm.

"Personally I think it's only related to self-defense. From what I've observed, she only fought that transformed Biomaverick to rescue her friends." Model C added, looking over his notes on a holoscreen.

"What a shame... I would certainly allow her to fight to her heart's content with my little army behind me here." Charon gloated, letting two other Beast Men step into the room, both strong men with one bearing a rhino-like Biomaverick and the other having a tiger-themed body.

"Did you call for us, Master Charon?" "Yeah! I'm ready for a challenge any time!" They said, as the tiger one grinned excitedly while the rhino one had a determined expression.

"Unfortunately, your opponent is too weak-minded to even think of fighting other Beast Men." Charon said, soon snapping his fingers as a third Beast Man jumped through the window. "But we can fix that..."

 **"It's almost time, Master."** The new, faceless Beast Man said, getting a smirk out of Charon as he pulled out his Biomaverick.

"Then let's go..."

Gen was already transformed and waiting on the roof, uneasy at the idea of deliberate fighting while she was gripping her elbows from the tension. "... I don't know if I should be doing this, Model E..."

 ** _[He threatened Aero Express, didn't he? Isn't that enough of a reason to fight? Besides, he's the one who is masterminding the terrorist attacks lately, he should be stopped.]_** Model E said, trying to encourage her.

"Well, it probably would be better to do this myself than to explain everything to Legion or the Guardians..." Gen replied with a sigh, pulling her Busters out of their holsters.

Suddenly, two arms grabbed Gen's torso, jetting high into the air only to throw Gen's back into the roof as it forced the wind out of her body from the impact.

"A bit impatient, aren't we Model O...? You weren't even kind enough to let her see the attack..." Charon gloated, waiting for the other fighter to get back up as they landed.

After getting over a brief coughing fit, Gen slowly stood up to point her Busters at the two of them but she stopped when she realized that Charon was already transformed, in a purple-clad form that had many metallic green feathers that resembled a peacock's coming out of his back, elegant shoulder armor, and various gold adornments all over his body such as gold boot spikes as he was floating on a solid-light platform next to her attacker.

"Perhaps I should reintroduce myself. I am Model P, the Digital Beast Man." He said, as he put a hand to his chest, soon looking to his companion.

His smaller ally's Beast Man armor had a dark red and white owl theme, bearing rounded shoulder armor with turbofans in the back of them and boosters in their feet like Model E has. But what made this enemy more notable is that instead of seeing their Chosen One's face, a metal face shield was over it, with a menacing goggle-like design where their eyes would be as the helmet's eyes were glowing red.

 **"Model O, the Rocket Beast Man. You'd better prepare yourself, because there's only room for one bird in this sky!"** His voice echoed as if he was using the Chosen One underneath to speak for him.

Gen jumped into the air and activated her jetpack. "I am Model E, the Flying Beast Man, and I will ground those desires of yours once and for all!"

Growling in anger, Model O then used his back turbofans to get up to Gen's face as she was trying not to lose her composure. **"You think you're better than me just because you can fly...?"** He replied, but then jetted back to a safe distance.

Gen aimed her Cyclone Busters at him. "That doesn't matter as long as I will beat you! Raging Cyclone Bullet!"

As the two spheres of compressed air spiraled towards the other Beast Man, he merely spun in a speedy circle to create a powerful current to dispel the bullets. **"Pathetic!"**

 **"You call that using wind?! I'll show you how to use wind!"** He shouted, generating wind around himself to then charge at Gen.

She attempted to dodge by jetting in a different direction, but he dashed again to hit her stomach with his elbow, causing her to flip due to her boosters still being active. "...!"

 **"Don't tell me you're already done, Model E!"** Model O taunted, arrogantly waiting for her to recover.

Breathing heavily, Model E then glared at him fiercely, and if his Chosen One's face was shown, there would probably be a deranged grin forced onto them. **"That's more like it..."**

 _C...Calm down... I can't let my emotions blind me to the fact that someone's under there..._ Gen thought, wheezing through her teeth. **_[General, is something wrong?]_** Model E anxiously asked, noticing her hesitation.

 **"Some warrior you are, Biomaverick! Allowing yourself to be tamed by this weak-minded fool!"**

 ** _[It's better than controlling someone to become your puppet! We are stronger than you are, Model O!]_** Model E screamed as the helmet's eyes shined bright green.

 _Green? I've never seen that sort of color for a Beast Man's secondary eyes before, not even with myself... Model C never told me this juicy detail, but he was probably too busy scheming as always._ Charon thought, grinning to himself as he was witnessing this battle.

After Gen relaxed, she realized this change. "Cyclone Busters combine!" She yelled, doing that. "Giga Storm Buster!" She called, aiming the Buster at Model O as it was charging.

Model O began to charge wind around him as well. **"Using two minds to become more powerful?! What nonsense!"**

He then blasted head first towards the attack, yelling to energize his own spirit.

"Storm Explosion!"

Model O and the two tornadoes clashed into each other, struggling to destroy each other as his face shield began to crack from the force. When Gen's attack finished, both of them were completely out of breath as Model E's eyes were shifting between green and white with the Giga Storm Buster reverting to their original forms while Model O was shaking from the near lack of energy in his body with various cracks in his armor. Due to their exhaustion, they have forced themselves to lower their flying height to about thirty feet away from Aero Express instead of their original two hundred feet.

 **"That was good... I'll give you that..."** He could barely say as his face shield's cracks became more prominent.

It was then the mask completely fell apart, revealing that his Chosen One is a controlled Aero, showing that her light blue eyes were corrupted into a fierce crimson. **"But I'm not done just yet...!"**

"B...Boss...?!" Gen shouted in shock, her body suddenly becoming tense.

A holoscreen appeared nearby with Charon having a slimy expression as usual. "Well, well, looks like the show is really getting started now, isn't it Model E?"

In her silence, all she could do was look at that screen while Model O turned away, crossing her arms as if she was ignoring him regardless of who was in control of her body. "I suppose in this intermission I can explain a few things, correct?"

"Long before you came to this country I'll assume, Aero and I were in the same business school. And she was always beating me in everything: grades, reputation, popularity..." Charon began, trying not to lose his temper.

As Gen was attempting to listen to this babble, she was starting to calm down herself and was reflecting on when she herself met Aero three years ago, clenching tightly on her Cyclone Busters as she was looking to the sky. _It was so strange when I arrived here, I got lost as soon as I got out of the Transerver... But Boss, Miss Aero... She helped me out regardless if I was a complete stranger, and even gave me a job when I didn't have one. There's no way that I can ever repay her kindness from that day until now..._

"...Even though I was the one who eventually created a huge company, she had the nerve to make all of that work worthless by starting a transporting business of all things when Giroette disappeared two years ago and his company was shut down because of that..." He continued to ramble as Model O yawned out of boredom while Gen was supposedly daydreaming.

"It seems I'm boring you two, then. I guess I can skip some details in that case. I found Model P as I had my company digging for lost technology, and we've worked out a contract: as long as I can use his powers to manipulate information as I desire, he can have his freedom. And with him, I later discovered Model O as well as two other Biomavericks you will have the pleasure of battling at another time." Charon finished, smirking confidently.

Gen then turned to them with a quiet if not depressed look of determination. "So I guess you feel better with this brainwashed army of yours?"

Turning his head upwards in arrogance, Charon then replied, "It's because Aero was weak that she can't enjoy this power herself..."

This was the only thing to set off Gen's nerves, as she dashed forward with blinding speed towards Charon but Model O shot tornadoes to blow her off course, forcing Aero's face to take a fierce expression as Gen swiftly regained her balance.

"You take that back! It's because you cheated with those weird powers of yours!"

 **"Your opponent is me, so stop focusing your attention on him!"** Model O screamed, accelerating wind around Aero into another charge.

Gen suddenly started cycling wind around her as well, surprising Model O but he wouldn't stop. "Aero..."

As if Aero herself was trying to stop him, Model O's attack began to falter and slow down. **_N-Not now...!_**

"Extreme!" Gen finished as she directly charged into Model O, tackling Aero's body with great force as her head hit Model O's helmet, causing it to shatter and thus forcing the transformation to deactivate through sheer power.

Model P was speechless at this turn of events. _Nearly copying an ability of a similar Beast Man for an attack and having just as powerful an effect...? She would be a dangerous opponent to fight after all with that determination of hers..._ He thought, deactivating the holoscreen and teleporting away before they could notice.

Aero's unconscious body was beginning to fall but Gen caught her just in time. "W-Wow..."

 ** _[Model O? Where did you go?!]_** Model E yelled, using his sensors to try to find the other Biomaverick as the helmet's eyes briefly shined.

 ** _[Calm down, Model E. I'm right here...]_** Model O groaned, floating nearby.

Gen landed and set Aero down, resting on one knee as she looked over her friend to be relieved that she wasn't hurt too badly. "So are you going to fight us another time?"

 ** _[After taking that attack? I'd rather not face that again, thanks...]_** He complained, making a sound as if he were shuddering though he couldn't do the action physically.

 ** _[Besides, you were right about him cheating anyway. Your friend's strong, but you're even stronger...]_** Model O noted begrudgingly, as Aero started to regain consciousness.

"B-Boss! You're all right?" Gen asked, mentally deactivating her transformation as Model E floated next to her head now.

"I haven't heard you call me by my first name in a while, Gen. I wonder why you don't do it more often..." Aero weakly joked, causing Gen to get flustered. "W-Well, I..."

 ** _[I'm the one who's trying to talk to you! Listen to_** ** _me_** ** _!]_** Model O sharply said, floating in front of Aero's face as she fell back out of surprise.

Aero chuckled after she regained her composure, adjusting her glasses briefly. "You seem quite spirited... So what's your name?"

 ** _[I am Biomaverick Model O and don't you forget it!]_** He shouted, but willingly floated into Aero's hands when she offered them.

"Model O... So you're my partner?" She softly asked, smiling afterwards. "It's nice to actually meet you."

Model O calmed down when he saw her smile, and if he could blush, he would be bright red instead of the darker tone he usually is. **_[Y-Yeah... Nice to meet you too, I guess.]_**

A small current of cold wind blew across the girls, causing Gen to shiver. "W-We should probably get back inside..."

"Yeah, that sounds good..." Aero said in the middle of a yawn.

The two slowly walked back into the building and went into their respective rooms.

"I really hope that Model P doesn't have any more tricks like that up his sleeve, we could've seriously hurt the Boss..." Gen whispered to Model E, concerned.

 ** _[Anyone can become possessed by a Biomaverick, General. You cannot show weakness just because you know of the person underneath. They have been changed by the Biomaverick and you're the only one who can free them because I'm sure those other two Beast Men won't.]_** He replied, resisting a blunt tone for his partner's sake.

The only way Gen could respond was a slight smile. "You're so considerate, Model E."

 ** _[Go on, you deserve some rest...]_** With a small nod, Gen turned off the light and began to sleep most of her worries away.

Though he couldn't show it on his face, Model E was still very concerned about something, but after a short while of thinking, he shook it off and set himself down on Gen's nightstand, "closing" his eyes to completely darken the room.


End file.
